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Freeze just the tip of the health iceberg

10 Apr 2017

AMA PRESIDENT DR MICHAEL GANNON

The headline health issue for some time now has been the harm caused to patients (and doctors’ practices) by the long-running freeze on Medicare patient rebates, and the need for it to be unravelled as soon as possible.

With the Federal Budget looming, the speculation in Canberra is no longer about whether or not the Government will end the freeze. The political reality is that the Government has to end the freeze if it wants any chance of winning the next election.

And that has now become the public stance of the Prime Minister and the Health Minister. It is not a question of if. It is a question of when.

There will be an announcement in the Budget. What is not known is the date of when the freeze will be lifted, and how far across the medical profession will the freeze lift extend.

I have had a number of discussions with the Minister pushing the AMA’s preferred outcome – to lift the freeze across the whole MBS schedule, and for it to be implemented as soon as practicable (for the AMA, that means immediately). He has been very busy in what I am certain are difficult pre-Budget negotiations within Cabinet.

Minister Hunt is fully aware that the freeze affects not only patients attending GPs, but other specialists as well. And he knows that it is just one of the elements putting more pressure on the value proposition of private health insurance. It's a measure that is increasing the pressure on our public hospitals. It has effects across the entire health system.

The AMA has made it clear to the Government and the public – as we did with our Budget Submission – that fixing the freeze is the beginning, not the end, of health reform in the current political cycle.

The Government is already working on reform in some of these areas, most notably the Health Care Homes trial, the MBS Review, and the PHI Review.

There is also important work underway in rural health and reviewing medical training.

But fixing the freeze is the breakthrough the Government needs to define its health policy narrative for the next two years and beyond. It will give them the clean air to negotiate other elements of their agenda.

The key theme must be looking at health policy and health funding as an investment, not a cost.

The Australian people sent strong health messages at the last election. They like Medicare. They like public hospitals. They like their doctors. They want easy access to affordable quality health care for themselves, their families and loved ones, no matter where they live and no matter their means.

That is the political reality. Australians care about health.

The AMA cares about patients, and we are the only body with the breadth of understanding of the entire health system to advocate for the best possible policies to ensure they get the care they need.

So, we want to work constructively with the Government. We want to move forward. And we are.

We agree that governments of all persuasions should aspire to balancing the Budget, but they must not keep cutting in areas like health, which can have devastating effects on working families and the disadvantaged.

The AMA is cooperating with all the Reviews, and the Government is starting to realise that there are not huge health dollars to be found hiding under a rock. But where there are genuine savings – savings that do not harm patients – we will help find them.

Health spending in Australia is not out of control. We just need to learn to spend it smarter. Invest in the things that are proven to work.

Minister Hunt understands this. He wants to put in place some long-term planning, especially in general practice and hospital funding.

To let the Minister pursue that vision, the Government must first remove the biggest impediment to progress – the Medicare freeze. And the sooner the better!